Is it safe for CERN to create a black hole on earth?

Question

I have heard recent news about CERN creating a black hole on earth to explain how the universe began. As in accordance with what we knmow about black holes does creation of a black hole on earth pose potential threat to mankind?

Answer 1

No danger at all. Black holes are not dangerous as such, its is massive black holes that could pause a threat, those with a mass that would be at least that of a mountain. Any micro black hole produced experimentally would have a mass comparable to that of an atom, and could not even have enough gravity to move another atom in close proximity. Further, it would be highly unstable and would stop be in a black hole in a period of time that is so short, you can't measure accurately, billionth of a second. Even if it could attract something -- and again it can't -- that something would not have had time to move before the black hole stops being a black hole.

Answer 2

No, a small enough black hole cannot even pull in a single atom, or would at least would take billions of years to, by chance, get close enough to another atom to pull one in.

And, as Robert A says, small black holes are believed to "evaporate" over time by quantum tunneling or something like that.

Surveyor has made a common mistake. Black holes do not have to be massive, just dense. Even a tiny fraction of a gram of mass can make a black hole if it occupies a small enough space. If it did, then the event horizon, which is the distance from the black hole where the escape velocity is the speed of light, would be extremely small, smaller than a single atom. In other words, you would have to get closer to that small black hole that the diameter of an atom to feel its gravity strongly. It is just such s small black hole that CERN is trying to make. No worry there.

Answer 3

I heard that too - with their new atron. I believe there is a danger ANYTIME you start colliding things that have never collided before. But, making a black hole would likely need some sort of 'starting force' other than the impact. The other idea is that, in the creation of a black hole, it doesn't suck everything up... it only consumes everything that is inside the event horizon. So...

if they make a black hole and have nothing within the event horizon, then it would stay sub-atomic.

(no, don't ask how would you then dismantle that black hole, I've no idea)

if it's the end of the world, well, it's been a fun ride.

Answer 4

In short....No.

As some folks said before, the thing here is density.

Black holes are created by stars who's mass is more than 10x our suns. It then shrinks down to size so dense that a gram of its mass can't be lifted even by an elephant.

Also, there is a minimum density that must be maintained for a black hole to stay around. Since these threasholds are waay higher than the atomic level, then there is nothing to worry about.

Answer 5

Black holes of the size that CERN is planning to make will decay in an amount of time many orders of magnitude less than a second. So no, they aren't really dangerous.

@ Surveyor: It isn't the amount of mass that matters, it's the density. A particle accelerator can create the necessary densities by smashing accelerated particles.

Answer 6

"Hawking radiation will cause a micro black hole to evaporate almost immediately. The scientists that studied the LHC and potential risks for years found no significant risk to the Earth." Almost immediately.....and what if the rate of the beams injecting into the Atlas convergence zone are slightly above the Hawking radiation rate? You will see growth in something. A resonance of rates. Can someone simply turn the beams off without hesitation if something grows in the Atlas detector? The 'almost' part is not very secure. It means it is immediate, but not quite. That leaves room for error and at the speed of light, a hell of alot of error can occur. Like in how much time a peson takes to reach the 'kill' switch :) ...surely there is computer monitoring and a grand detection crystal system in place to detect any anomolies. I hope the detection system is working tip-top. It would suck to see the collider in full operation and the BH is formed, the beams feeding it into growth, and someone notices that the 'kill' switch is non-functional. oops. The scientists who study the LHC for years, see no risk to Earth? How is that so, since they haven't tried something of this magnitude? Based on prior examples or prior colliders? Curious.

Answer 7

The black hole would decay before it has time to do any damage. That would be a heck of a way to go though. All of a sudden a black hole sucks in the entire world....

Answer 8

Yeah, whatever. There's not enough mass in the entire solar system to make a black hole "on earth". the idea is rediculous.

Answer 9

I am sadly under-educated and have an extremely limited knowledge of the physics involved relating to a black hole. That said, I believe the French are heavily involved in CE RN. In my view, those folks ought not concern themselves with anything more complicated than wine bottling, and pastry baking.

Answer 10

Don't worry, no one can create a black hole on earth. There isn't enough mass here on earth to create that amount of gravity. If someone could control gravity, I would think that they would be inventing the Starship Enterprise instead or some other interstellar spacecraft.